The best days for the National Football League may be behind it. And one can only wonder what the future of football is at all levels.

Front and center for the moment is the NFL’s political problem. NFL owners are clearly terrified by last year’s 9 percent drop in TV ratings. Fewer viewers translates into fewer dollars teams can get in the future from network contracts and other distribution channels.

A number of factors contributed to last season’s viewer dropoff, but none so significant as the controversy about players kneeling in protest during pregame national anthem ceremonies. The displays invoked the wrath of President Donald Trump, who pummeled owners and the league over the course of the season for allowing it.

Panicked owners only made their problem worse last month by voting unanimously, with one abstention, for a widely derided policy mandating that players who won’t stand for the anthem remain in the locker room until the ceremony is over.

These protests might have died on their own. Players have made their point and could have decided to move on. But the league and its owners have now assured the protests will continue next season as a show of resolve and defiance. That is likely to drive away more fans.

The fire was further fanned this week when the White House canceled a scheduled visit from the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles after the team opted to send only a delegation of players rather than a full roster. Refusing to be embarrassed, Trump replaced the visit with a ceremony honoring the military, the anthem and the flag.

While this spectacle is certain to further damage the league it is not, even in this worsened state, an existential threat. But the league does face such a threat – concussion injuries, which unlike most other sports affect almost every player in the NFL.

The league has pursued better helmets and new rules penalizing head-to-head contact, with little success. It has introduced “concussion protocols” to prevent dazed players from risking more contact until the symptoms resolve.

But a growing body of science suggests none of this is likely to spare players who suffer multiple concussions during their career from serious mental consequences later in life – problems ranging from dementia to suicidal depression.

The science merely confirms what many have long suspected. Society tended to turn a blind eye because the sport was popular and generated enormous amounts of money.

But this could change. Already former NFL players themselves have filed class action lawsuits against the league over their concussion maladies. One wonders what the future holds if similar lawsuits begin cropping up against colleges and local school boards for injuries to the legions of players who never advanced beyond those levels.

Concussions occur in other sports, but are rare relative to football, which along with boxing is one of the world’s only full-contact sports. The problem for football is that at some point government could get involved, potentially changing the game forever.

For generations the sport was simply too popular for government to touch. But now not so much, thanks to the on- and off-field antics of NFL players. One wonders how many people will continue to watch if in the future the league becomes the NFFL – National Flag Football League.